MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University did nearly everything correct on the final University of Sioux Falls possession, but somehow the ball found its way back to Drew Guebert.

Guebert sank a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining to score a game-high 23 points as the Cougars upset Minot State 80-77 in the first round of the Northern Sun / Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament Wednesday in front of 1,085 fans at the Minot State Dome.

"They got to one more loose ball than we did," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "You can't really fault anything on that play. I thought it was a high-level basketball game that was entertaining to be a part of. A great crowd and I appreciate that. I wish we could have sent them off with a better feeling."

The Beavers' Russ Davis blocked USF's Zach Wessels' layup and a scramble ensued under the Cougars basket. Wessels came up with the loose ball and pushed it to a wide open Guebert who rattled home his sixth triple of the night.

"We did a good job of on-ball defense there and it was a scramble," Murken said. "The ball gets tipped out to their best shooter."

The back-and-forth loss spoiled MSU's first-ever home NSIC playoff game and dropped the Beavers to 0-5 in the NSIC Tournament since joining the league.

Minot State (14-15 overall) shook off some early rust to grab a seven-point lead on a 3-pointer from Davis with 9:36 to play. But Guebert countered that with a triple on the USF end and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way.

USF  (15-16) took a 77-75 lead on a Mack Johnson jumper with 46 seconds to play and forced a missed shot by the Beavers with just 26 seconds to play. But MSU's Luis Ricci Maia stripped the USF player of the ball and was fouled. He hit two free throws to tie the game at 77.

After the Guebert eventual game-winner, Maia had a decent look off a quick inbounds play, but his 30 footer was just short.

The Cougars led by as many as 10 points late in the first half as they hit 55 percent from the field before the break. MSU, which shot 54 percent in the first half and 57 percent in the second, closed the gap to 37-31 at halftime on a driving layup by senior Nathan Mertens.

"I was a little disappointed were we had some good shot, really good looks at the basket and just missed them," Murken said. "We executed on offense for the most part, but didn't finish."

Mertens was solid in his final game as a Beaver, scoring 16 points and adding seven assists and a rebound. He was 7 for 8 from the field and hit both free throws.

"It's a frustrating way to end, but there isn't anything we can do about it at this point," Mertens said.

Along with Guebert, USF had four others in double figures. Wessels scored 14 points and Johnson added 13 points and four assists in the win. USF held a big 33-21 advantage in rebounds, including a commanding 11-2 lead on the offensive end.

"The story of the game is they got after us on the glass," said Murken "They got a lot more opportunities at the basket. We shot better, but they had seven more attempts and hit more than we did in the end."

Tyler Rudolph knocked down a team-high 21 points and added seven rebounds. He moved into seventh place all-time in scoring passing MSU greats Brian Buhr and Kevin Bohl on the night, finishing his junior year with 1,357 total. He also moved past Greg Johnson into second place all-time in career rebounds with 690 total.

"It's not the way we wanted to go out. We didn't make some plays down the stretch," Rudolph said. "They made a few more plays than we did. We will have to work harder going into next year."

Maia, Stevan Jovanovic and Davis also scored in double figures for MSU as five of the eight players who saw time scored at least 10. Maia had 16 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals, Jovanovic scored 12 points and added two rebounds and Davis hit two 3-pointers to finish with 11 and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.